Factors affecting staff support of a voluntary nonlead ammunition outreach program

Abstract

Lead poisoning from ingestion of bullet fragments in gut piles and unretrieved deer carcasses continues to cause mortality in bald eagles. To address this issue, the Midwest region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) initiated an outreach program during 2016–2018 encouraging hunters to voluntarily use nonlead ammunition while deer hunting on National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs). We conducted a survey to assess this program using seven factors that might influence USFWS staff support for the nonlead outreach program: innovativeness, lead exposure to bald eagles, availability of training and outreach materials, satisfaction with program implementation, importance of informational materials, and if they were a deer hunter. Multiple linear regression showed attitudes toward eagles’ lead risk and importance of informational materials had the strongest effect on program support, followed by an individual’s innovativeness. Although previous studies have focused on influencing hunters’ nonlead use, our findings show staff attitudes and perceptions about nonlead strongly affect program support and ultimately program outcomes.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Missouri J. Raymond White Fellowship and by USFWS and USGS Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (Grant MO-RWO 131). The Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit is jointly sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation, the University of Missouri, the USFW, the USGS and the Wildlife Management Institute. Any use of trade, firm, or product names are for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.